Yemeni PM escapes assassination attempt: official

• Yemeni PM escaped an assassination attempt unharmed near his home in Sanaa on Saturday.

• The Yemeni government has not released a statement on the incident.

• "Unidentified gunman went out from a car and opened fire at the PM's convoy," media advisor said.

SANAA, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Yemeni Prime Minister Mohamed Basindwa escaped an assassination attempt unharmed near his home in the capital of Sanaa on Saturday, his media adviser told Xinhua.

"Unidentified gunman went out from a car and opened fire at the prime minister's convoy on a street close to the Political Security Agency in Sanaa," Rajih Badi, the media advisor, said.

"The bodyguards of Basindwa fired back, but the assailants run away," he added, without elaborating further.

The Yemeni government has not released a statement on the incident.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of the Interior Ministry told Xinhua that the ministry is investigating the incident. He said that " such attack do not bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida... but there is possibility that al-Qaida did it."

Basindwa came to office in November 2011 to head the coalition government in line with a UN-backed power transfer deal that saw the resignation of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh following a year of unrest.

The government launched in March a national dialogue in which political parties are due to draft a constitution and pave the way for parliament and presidential elections in February 2014. The dialogue, scheduled for six month, is set to conclude by Sept. 18.

ADEN, Yemen, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen killed a Yemeni intelligence colonel in a drive-by shooting early Saturday while he was leaving home for work in the southern province of Lahj, a security official told Xinhua. Full story